


Pocket of Space

by Engineer104



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Ableist Language, Action/Adventure, Actual plot, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama & Romance, F/M, Minor Character Death, Non-Graphic Violence, Slow Burn, Some Intrigue, Tags May Change, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-19 07:04:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12405450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Engineer104/pseuds/Engineer104
Summary: The Altean Survey wasn't the active duty Allura envisioned when she enlisted in the military, instead offering a quiet service exploring distant planets. But when the Galra seemingly invade peaceful Arus, Allura's quiet mission is thrown into disarray, bringing her into contact with a Galra deserter named Keith. Forced to rely on each other to ensure their mutual survival, they uncover something rotten within the Galra ranks...





	1. Arus

**Author's Note:**

> So I recently started reading the Vorkosigan Saga (which is pure science fiction), and the first book is also kind of a romance and when i read it, it ended up screaming _kallura AU_ at me. Which, um. You don't have to have read _Shards of Honor_ to know what's going on, because of course Allura and Keith aren't perfect 'doubles' of the main characters, nor is the plot copy/pasted because that would be uncreative. Also I'm planning for the other characters (Coran/Shiro/Lance/Hunk/Pidge in particular) to have more significant roles than their counterparts, if that makes sense
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy the start!!

Arus was lightyears from the closest warzone, but its forests and valleys seemed just as quiet as space, at least to Allura.

She stood at the edge of a valley, staring down a gently sloping side. The vegetation varied in color from a rich green to dark burgundy, from tall trees bearing fruits to feathery fronds that brushed the tops of her boots when she walked by. And despite the light of day, not a sound came from the trees, no birds chirping or small mammals scuffling through the undergrowth.

"Don't you think it's eerie how quiet it is here?" Allura called out to Coran.

Coran, a military scientist, squatted nearby, focused on the plant life. He wore gloves and collected everything from leaves and fibers to soil samples. But when she spoke, he pushed his sunglasses up and glanced at her. "Perhaps the animal life here is mostly nocturnal, Princ--Captain," he said.

Allura suppressed a smile at his slip-up, and said, "That's not exactly what I meant, Lieutenant."

"Hmm." Coran stood, zipping up the aluminum sample pouch and storing it in his satchel. "Then what did you mean?"

"No sign of _sentient_ life," Allura remarked, gesturing around them, at the dense forest filled with a sort of life that held more fascination for Coran than it did for her. "It's strange, but I've never been to a planet so full – so _safe_ – for Alteans besides Altea itself, except for those our allies inhabited."

"You may see many more in the Survey, Captain," said Coran. When Allura looked at him, she saw he was distracted again, attention fixed on his tablet as he likely recorded his most recent samples. "Besides," he continued, peering at her from the corner of his eye, "better a quiet planet before it even evolves a sentient species than a Galra warzone, I should think."

Allura crossed her arms and scowled, probably looking just like a petulant child denied a treat after dinner. "Yes, well--" She cut herself off as something over the forest canopy caught her sight:  a dark billowing cloud of smoke, weighing heavy and standing out starkly against the pale blue sky. "Coran," she said, reaching out and touching her lieutenant's arm. When he turned towards her, she pointed up.

"Quiznak," he hissed. "Is that--"

"It's coming from the direction of our camp," she confirmed. "Let's go."

* * *

The Altean Survey was a branch of the military apart, an expeditionary force focused more on science and exploration than on defense and conquest, but that didn't mean its members lacked in training. Even so, by the time they returned to the clearing where her crew made their camp, Allura was out of breath from the frantic run. She doubled over, hands on her knees as she struggled to catch her breath.

_Maybe I wouldn't be so out of shape if I was enlisted in the regulars!_ she thought resentfully.

From where she and Coran stood, they could see the remains of their camp:  not a single tent still stood, each temporary structure now only a pile of ash. A wide sooty streak bisected the clearing, marking some kind of impact, and the scent of char lay heavy on the air, clogging Allura's nose with its unpleasantness. No equipment was obvious, nor any bodies belonging to the men and women serving under her, for which Allura could be grateful.

But what befell them and their camp?

Allura took one step forward, but Coran grabbed her wrist and tugged her back into the trees. "Let go, Lieutenant," she said, trying to tug her arm back.

"Think carefully, Captain," Coran advised her, meeting her eyes. "This wasn't...spontaneous, no random lightning storm."

Allura paused, and thought. Yes, it became obvious that Coran was right; there were enemies about, and from how widespread and _thorough_ the destruction, she realized, "A plasma arc." She stared at him with wide eyes, then looked back to the ruins of their camp. "Where did everyone go?" she asked quietly.

"We can hope they escaped."

"But what if...what if they were captured?" Allura stepped towards the camp, then looked back at Coran to see if he would stop her again, and when he didn't – though he had that _look_ on his face that told her he wanted to – she walked straight into the heart of camp, trailing sooty footsteps over the ground.

As she examined the ashes, Allura searched for signs of surviving equipment. She found a number of containers still storing food – surprisingly sturdy even in the face of something as destructive as a plasma arc – and a radio that, while deformed from extreme heat, still appeared intact. When she flicked on the half-melted switch, she heard static coming from the speakers and breathed a sigh of relief.

The feeling was short-lived though at a muted call from Coran.

"Yes?" she said, glancing up from her find.

"I'm afraid," said Coran, staring down at something at the ground, "that there was a casualty."

Allura's breath caught, and she hurried towards him, almost tripping over scorched canvas on her way. But then she spotted the body over which Coran stood, and she collapsed.

"Oh, I can't even tell who it is!" she cried, covering her face. _Must not cry,_ she thought. _Must stay strong and not panic._

Coran knelt beside her and calmly felt at where the vaguely human-shaped burnt lump's neck should be. "Here," he said. He pulled up a metal tab and turned it to read the engraving. "Sergeant Rona Altrene."

Allura put a hand to her chest, feeling her own tags through her shirt. "Take them," she said as she stood again. "We'll give those to her family when we return to Altea."

"Yes, Princ--I mean, Captain."

Allura sighed; Coran only fell into such old habits – using her _other_ title – either while distracted or anxious. This time, she suspected he was both.

She returned her attention to the radio and tuned it to the emergency frequency – one usually silent and secret, thankfully – she'd assigned to her crew. She prayed the device wasn't so damaged that the range was restricted, and when she heard a voice on the other end, she almost sobbed.

"Captain?" said Lieutenant Hira on the other end. "Is that you?"

Allura composed herself, but allowed relief to wash over her at the sound of her second-in-command's voice. "Yes, Lieutenant," she said with a grin. "Report. What happened and where is my crew? Is everyone safe?"

"Galra," Hira said, voice dark and furious. "Their commander asked us to surrender, and Sergeant Altrene went to speak with him. But one of them was a trigger-happy moron that shot her with a nerve disruptor."

"You mean...she was dead before the plasma arc?"

"I...don't know, Captain," Hira admitted with a hint of shame.

Allura sucked in a breath; poor Rona may or may not have suffered. But she put that out of her mind for the moment. "What happened after that?"

"I'm not sure, Captain," Hira said. "No one is. It looked like there was a _mutiny_ of sorts among their ranks, and we escaped and took the pods up to the ship in the confusion. We saw smoke from the plasma arc, as if they were trying to destroy the evidence, while we were in the pods."

"Mutiny." Allura sighed and rubbed her forehead; she wondered if she imagined the building headache at her temple. Galra anywhere were bad news, especially on a world like Arus. What value did it have to warmongers like them, when there was no one here to conquer? "Thank you, Hira. Do you think you're being pursued?"

"If we are, we're much faster," Hira said, sounding proud. " _Castle Lion_ is more efficient, and we can be halfway back to Altea before their great battleship can even turn around."

It was an exaggeration, but it comforted Allura nonetheless. "Good. Now keep on."

"Who else is with you, Captain?" Hira said hesitantly. "We accounted for everyone, except for you and Lieutenant Coran."

"He's with me," Allura told her, glancing towards the scientist in question as he scavenged the camp for any surviving supplies.

"Oh, good! Then we'll come back--"

"No," Allura interrupted. "Absolutely not, Lieutenant."

"But--"

"I order you to continue to Altea," she said, scowling at the radio as if it would communicate her displeasure to Hira. "You carry crucial information now, and you risk losing it if you return to rescue me and Lieutenant Coran. Return to Altea," she insisted before Hira could argue, "and report directly to my fa--the king."

Hira didn't respond immediately, and Allura worried the _Castle Lion_ was finally out of range, until she reluctantly said, "Yes, ma'am."

"Thank you, Hira," she said sincerely, surprising even herself when she dropped the title. "Don't worry about Coran and me; we can survive this." They would have to. "Now go; you're in command of the ship now."

"Yes," Hira said, and the connection clicked off.

Allura slumped, having adopted a rigid, almost military posture during the conversation. She dropped the radio, stood, and joined Coran. Before he could greet her, she said, "We're sharing Arus with Galra."

"I feared as much," Coran admitted. He squatted beside a pile of accumulated supplies, staring at them thoughtfully. "And no rescue?"

"No rescue," Allura confirmed. She crossed her arms, and thought about their survival, the odds of which were considerably slimmer since they shared a planet with Galra soldiers. Their presence here troubled her, but at the moment they had more pressing matters. "We need to move," she told Coran, glancing back to the trees. "It's not safe here, in case they return."

"Yes," Coran agreed, standing up and brushing off the seat of his pants, "but it's almost dark."

Allura looked up and, for the first time since she spotted the smoke over the camp, noticed the sky darkening, the brightest of stars already in view. "Quiznak," she said. "Let's--"

A sharp crack interrupted her, and a large man wearing the green camouflage of a Galra soldier entered the camp, a nerve disruptor in one hand, which he pointed at Allura. "Where is he?" he demanded.

Allura, heart pounding fast, put her hands up and frowned. "I don't know who you're talking about," she said, fighting to stay calm.

"Don't you?" The man sneered at them. "He's as good as a defector, as weak as an Altean."

A prickle of defensive anger had Allura open her mouth with a half-formed retort, at least until Coran vaulted across the clearing and tackled the man to the ground. "Allura, run!" he shouted as he attempted to wrestle the Galra soldier for the nerve disruptor. "There could be others!"

Allura stood, frozen in shock while her hand hovered over the stunner at her belt, and Coran yelled, "Princess, think of Altea!"

The soldier started, "Princ--"

Allura turned and ran, hating herself for leaving Coran the entire way. When she was almost to the edge of the valley where they first spotted the smoke – when her life had turned on its head – she tripped over a root and fell. She rolled down the slope, fighting to gain traction as sticks and stones scraped at every bit of exposed skin. The blur of dark green and red plants made her dizzy, her stomach roiling with nausea, and when she stopped, hitting a tree trunk with an impact that stunned her, she couldn't focus her eyes in the dark. She thought she spotted a pair of boots approaching her, but before she made sense of what she saw, the dark finally swallowed her.

* * *

When Allura awoke, the sky was the dark blue of dawn, the stars fading from view as the sun started to rise over the horizon. Body sore and stiff enough that she gasped when she shifted her limbs, she struggled to sit up, only to be met with the sight of her own stunner pointed at her forehead.

"Don't move!"

Allura narrowed her eyes despite the fearful pounding of her heart. She looked past the hand holding the gun, up the connecting arm, to the Galra soldier attached. A surprisingly young man stared down at her, black shoulder-length hair in a messy tangle and mud streaked across his pale face. His mouth was twisted into a snarl, but she thought she saw something like fear in him too.

"Are you the one he was looking for?" Allura asked, voice quiet despite her alarm and the loathing twisting her belly into knots.

The soldier, surprised, lowered the stunner, and Allura took that chance to jump up and try to wrestle the weapon away from him, Coran's final words to her forgotten in the moment.

He exhaled in a pained huff when her knee found his abdomen, doubling over, and he dropped the stunner right into her hand. She pressed the tip to the back of his head and said, "We may not be as barbaric as you Galra, but I still know how to use a weapon! Now tell me why your men attacked my camp!"

"Shh!" he said, glaring at her. "Keep your voice down."

"Why?" Allura demanded. She took a step back, giving him a chance to stand, but kept the stunner directed at his head. "Are you worried they'll find you?" Her eyes widened, and she remembered, " _Was_ there a mutiny?"

The soldier's glare relaxed, and he seemed to consider something before he gave her a single sharp nod. "Who came looking?" he wondered.

"Another Galra soldier," she replied. "Dressed just like you. Green fatigues, not blue like mine."

"I need more information," he said. Was that... _hope_ in his eyes?

Allura frowned. "Broad, not _very_ tall. Brown hair."

Just like that, the soldier slumped, burying his face in his hands as if in defeat. The sudden display of grief surprised Allura, and she lowered her arm, holding her gun at her side. "You're a... _victim_ of the mutiny then?" she said.

"Yes." He looked at her, and glanced up the slope of the valley towards the Altean Survey camp. "I need to go back."

But before he could leave, without so much as a look at the weapon she'd stolen back from him, Allura grabbed his wrist. When he turned to look at her, an eyebrow raised, she said, "I'm coming with you."

"Why?" he asked, though he didn't fight her grip on him.

"I left behind my lieutenant," Allura admitted, shame washing over her. She didn't look straight at him, fearing his judgment for some irrational reason. "And I need to find him."

He seemed to understand, for he just started up the slope. Allura let go of him, and they walked without speaking as the sky lightened to the pale blue of daytime.

The silence weighed even heavier this morning than it ever did before, and Allura longed for something as simple as the chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves in a breeze. She contemplated half a dozen conversation starters, until she recalled that her current companion wore a Galra uniform. She frowned at the weapon she still held in her hand, realizing he had yet to ask her to dispose of it lest she shoot him in the back...and that she didn't know his name.

"What do I call you?" she asked.

He finally glanced sideways at her, gaze sharp. "Keith," he said.

"No rank?" she said, blinking at him.

He admitted in an impressively mild voice, "Not anymore."

Allura felt a chill, but she shook her head to clear it. "I'm...sorry to hear that," she said carefully.

Keith snorted. "No, you're not."

Allura rolled her eyes but let it pass.

They kept on in silence again, and she started to think he didn't care to know her name, until he quietly asked, "What's your name?"

"Didn't peek at my tags while I slept then?" she asked, smirking.

His eyes widened. "I...no. Why would I?"

She shrugged, then said, "Allura."

"No rank?"

Allura inhaled sharply, eyes shut. She contemplated telling the truth, fellow survivor and a defector that he (supposedly) was, perhaps make him more likely to help her – _with what?_ – but instead she said, "Captain Allura...Altene." Guilt stung her at stealing her late sergeant's surname, but she pushed it aside in the name of survival.

"All right, Captain," said Keith. "Nice to meet you."

Allura smiled, just slightly. "I wish I could say the same."


	2. Survival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their reluctant alliance established, Allura and Keith recover Coran and start towards shelter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Warning for ableism**

They found Coran slumped against a tree right at the edge of camp, his head down with his chin pressed into his sternum.

"Coran!" Allura called, heedless of any possible danger.

"Captain!" Keith said, alarmed, and he grabbed her arm to hold her back in an eerie echo of the events the day before.

"Let me go, Keith," she hissed at him. "That's my lieutenant!"

Keith's eyes met hers, but after a second – of him considering, it seemed, and of her glaring at him – he let her go, and she sprinted towards Coran.

"Coran," she said, kneeling in front of him. She patted his cheek, and when that didn't stir him, she felt for a pulse at his throat, exhaling in relief when she detected it.

She flinched when she heard footsteps behind her, but relaxed when she saw it was just Keith. "What happened?" he asked.

"Your comrade came around demanding where _you_ were," Allura explained, scowling at the ground. She moved so she was beside Coran, and grabbed his arm and slung it across her shoulders. "Coran attacked him to give me a chance to escape. Now help me move him."

"Are you sure he's--"

"Yes!" Allura said, and though Keith sighed, he moved to Coran's other side and mirrored her. Together, they stood and lifted Coran's dead weight, moving him deeper into the trees where there was more shelter and where he could lie down more comfortably – assuming he was still cognizant enough to care about comfort, Allura thought, an image of Coran struggling against a beefy Galra soldier over a nerve disruptor flashing through her mind. But she shook that fear away in favor of returning to the camp.

"I need to bury my sergeant," she told Keith. "Wait here."

"What?" Keith said, stalking after her. "We don't have time for that! There are men after me, and they must be after you too if--"

"I owe Sergeant Altene a proper burial!" Allura insisted, glaring at him as she entered camp. "I can salvage a few trowels from the camp's remains, I think, if you'd like to help and make it go quicker, but I can and _will_ do it myself if I have to."

Keith didn't fight her. Instead, he asked, "Was she your sister?"

Allura blinked at him, surprised at the assumption until she remembered the name she gave him. "Yes," she lied, though Rona was surely as dear to her as one.

Keith averted his eyes from the destruction of the Survey camp and said, "I'll help. You're right, it'll be faster that way."

"Thank you, Keith," Allura said sincerely.

He didn't reply.

Allura found two trowels quickly enough, and found Coran's satchel nearby as well, most likely dropped in the scuffle before. She dumped out the now-useless plant and soil samples inside but kept his tablet, just in case it would prove useful for communications later; even if she _was_ captured by Galra, there would be no information on it they could use, unless they were interested in Arusian flora. After stuffing into it the provisions she and Coran scavenged the day before, Allura shouldered the satchel and approached Rona's charred, unrecognizable body. Despite the stiffness of death, she managed to pick her up...with some help from Keith, who grabbed her ankles while Allura held her under the arms.

They buried her at the edge of camp, where the ground was soft enough to dig. And they dug silently, heedless of the passing day, only pausing to wipe sweat from their faces or to retreat further into the trees to relieve their bladders.

Something about the quiet camaraderie soothed Allura, despite her fear for her team and the guilt she still felt at abandoning Coran. She found herself smiling softly at the way Keith _attacked_ the soil, as if the very ground had insulted him or his family.

_He's Galra,_ she told herself, returning her full attention to the task at hand.

The sun was near setting when Allura stood, the grave not quite deep enough, and announced, "I'm going to check on Coran."

"I'll be here," Keith said, taking a break and wiping dirt off his face. Or trying to, since he only succeeded in streaking it across his nose and cheek.

Allura took a granola bar from the satchel and walked towards Coran, a grin splitting her face when she saw that his eyes were open and staring right at her. "Coran," she said, kneeling beside him. "How are you? Are you injured?"

Coran groaned, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry, Captain," he said.

"What? Why?" Allura demanded. "You have _nothing_ to apologize for! I should be the one--"

"Princess," Coran interrupted, and the shock of hearing her truest and oldest title startled her into wide-eyed silence, "I can't feel my legs."

Allura stared at him, lips flapping uselessly. "Coran..."

"Nerve disruptors," Coran said, smiling ruefully at the granola bar she offered him. "Nasty things."

"I will get us home," Allura promised him. She gripped his hand tightly between both of hers. "We will--"

A cry of alarm came from the direction of their grave-digging.

Allura stood, staring towards Keith before glancing at Coran, torn. She still carried her stunner; what if he was being attacked by Galra? What if they came around and finished Coran while she helped Keith?

"Go carefully, Captain," Coran advised, reading her dilemma. "I'll still be here when you're done."

Allura smiled at him, hoping he was right, and ran to Keith in time to find him fighting an unlikely enemy.

Something large and hairy and eerily spider-like made a grab for Sergeant Altene's body, while Keith sought to defend it with a knife--

_Where did he get that from?_ Allura wondered.

She pushed that aside, unimportant question that it was, and grabbed her stunner and fired.

The charge hit the animal in the side and it crumpled at Keith’s feet. Wary of others, Allura gingerly grabbed a single hairy leg and dragged it further into the trees, hopeful it wouldn’t recover from the stunning shock until they were well away. She returned and approached Keith, who sat heavily on the ground.

"Did it hurt you?" she asked.

"No," said Keith, but even in the dark Allura spotted blood staining the leg of his trousers.

"Are you sure?" she pressed.

Keith gritted his teeth. "I'm fine, Captain," he told her. He waved her away before she could help him to his feet and stood up. And to her relief, he at least showed no sign of being in pain. "Let's just...finish this grave and rest for the night."

"Good idea," Allura agreed.

* * *

"May you rest with the ancients," Allura said to the fresh earth interring Rona's bones. She grasped her tags in one hand, the chains wrapped loosely around her wrist, and stood with her head bowed. "I'll see these returned to your family, and I'll make sure your life wasn't meaningless." She sighed, and stored the tags securely in her buttoning chest pocket. After one last look at Sergeant Altene's grave, she returned to where Coran slept and Keith kept watch, a glow stick spreading a circle of soft radioactive green light.

Allura sat on a protruding tree root. She poured precious water from her canteen onto her hands and wiped her face free of dirt as best she could without a mirror. "We'll have to find a water source in the morning," she told Keith.

"Yeah," he agreed. "You should rest while you can."

"What about you?" she asked, leaning against the tree trunk.

"I'm fine."

Allura gave a very undignified snort. "You keep saying that," she remarked, "but I very much doubt it's true."

"Keep doubting," Keith retorted, eyes looking anywhere but at her.

"Hmm, well, I'd rather you not collapse halfway through our walk tomorrow, since I'll need your help carrying Coran." Which reminded her. "Where _should_ we go?"

"I...know a place," Keith said, hesitant for some reason despite looking straight at her.

"What _sort_ of place?" Allura said. She raised an eyebrow, suspicious.

"A supply depot," Keith said, resting his arms on his knees. "Galra."

Allura blinked; the Galra had a presence on Arus for _much_ longer than she thought. _Father needs to know..._ "Will it be... _safe_ for you?" _Will it be safe for any of us?_

Keith shrugged and admitted, "Unlikely, but it's better than nothing, and I need to find...someone."

More secrets, and ones she suspected were of a personal nature. Well, not that she'd told _him_ everything about her in their short acquaintance. "That's acceptable then," she said.

Silence overtook them, and Allura felt herself drifting into a doze, at least until Keith said, "On my home-world he would be killed."

"What?" Allura opened her eyes and stared at him in confusion. "Who would?"

Keith nodded towards Coran, and any trace of sleepiness disappeared as anger took over. "What? Why?"

"He's dead weight," Keith said. He sighed and frowned at his feet. "It would be considered a mercy for any soldier."

"We're not regular soldiers," Allura told him. "We're Altean Survey, and even for soldiers we would _never_ do that. No one would dare suggest it! Besides, there are implants--"

Keith's eyes flicked to her in interest. "What? Really?"

"Yes, of course!" said Allura, shocked at his surprise, until she recalled every briefing she ever had about Galra technology. _All for the war machine,_ her tutor told her scathingly. _None for the people._ "He can be treated at home, when we get home." _When,_ she insisted to herself, not _if_.

Keith didn't reply to that, but he said, "Get some sleep, Princess."

Allura stared at him, stiffening. "What did you just say?"

Keith stared back, surprised. "Get some sleep, Captain?"

Allura shook her head. She _was_ exhausted, weary in mind, soul, and body, and dismissed him calling her 'princess' as a figment of her imagination. Still, it wouldn't hurt to speak privately with Coran, in case he'd let something slip to Keith while she stood vigil over Rona's grave.

She slipped into a restless sleep, seeking dreams just out of reach, but so shallow was her slumber that she jerked up the minute she felt a hand on her shoulder.

It was only Keith, who took a step back, wary of crowding her. "It's sunrise," he said, his own eyelids drooping with exhaustion, "and your lieutenant is also awake."

Allura nodded and stood, stretching and massaging her sore arms. They packed up their meager camp, and after quick bathroom breaks – when Allura had the unhappy honor of assisting Coran with his – they set out in the direction opposite the rising sun, towards a distant mountain range.

“How far is the supply depot?” Allura asked Keith. She had an arm wrapped around Coran’s waist, making sure he stayed upright, and kept a tight grip on the wrist attached to the arm slung around her shoulders.

Keith mirrored her on Coran’s other side, the arm holding onto him just brushing Allura’s. He replied, “I could make it in two days, by myself.”

_And uninjured,_ Allura added to herself. The tear in Keith’s trouser leg caught her attention, and she couldn’t help noticing his slightly uneven gait, though it didn’t seem to be slowing him down much. Yet.

Fortunately, though the terrain they passed through was heavily wooded, it proved even and easy enough of a trek for the time being. But Coran’s legs were entirely useless, and his size – he was taller than both Allura and Keith – coupled with their exhaustion proved to make what ought to have been an almost _pleasant_ walk under ordinary circumstances strenuous.

Allura half-expected Keith to complain, or to express anger about Coran’s condition given their awful conversation the night before, but he didn’t. In fact, apart from brief instructions and suggestions as they traversed the forest, he didn’t speak much at all.

Coran, on the other hand, seemed just as discomfited by the silence as Allura did and sought to fill it with chatter. He talked about his discoveries on Arus, and on a few other planets he’d explored.

“It’s quite beautiful here, wouldn’t you agree, Keith?” he said, raising a bushy orange eyebrow at him. When Keith just grunted in response, he continued, “Of course, it’s not as beautiful as the plains of Altea—”

“Nothing compares to the juniberry fields,” Allura said, smiling.

“Exactly!” said Coran, and he exchanged a grin with her.

They reached a narrow and passable stream after a few hours of trekking, and after settling Coran down against a large boulder on the bank, Allura bent down and washed her face and arms with the cool, clear water. She stared at the current, contemplating dunking her head under to rinse the accumulating dirt and grime from her hair, and jumped when Keith, kneeling beside her, did just that.

She couldn’t help laughing when Keith emerged, his black hair soaked and dripping and nearly covering his face. Rivulets of water streamed down his face and dampened his shirt, and as he pushed his hair out of his face, Allura asked, “I’m surprised the Galra military allows you to keep your hair so long.”

To her amazement – and reluctant delight – Keith smirked. “Who said they did?” he said.

Allura stared at him for a moment, bemused, as he cupped water in his hands to drink directly from the stream. Shaking her head to clear it, she followed suit and refilled her canteen before taking it to allow Coran a drink.

Given a moment alone with her lieutenant while Keith filled his own canteen, Allura squatted beside Coran. “Lieutenant,” she said, glancing back at the Galra deserter to make sure he kept his distance, “be careful what you say in front of him.”

“Are you suggesting that discussing the flora of Altea and Arus is sensitive information?” Coran joked, blue eyes glinting.

Allura, unamused, gave him a flat look. “Of course I am, sir,” she said, voice heavy with sarcasm.

Coran sensed her mood and chuckled. “I’m teasing you, Captain,” he said, returning the canteen to her. “Sometimes, you make it too easy.”

She sighed. “Yes, I know, as you and Father like to remind me. But Coran,” she said urgently, “do you remember accidentally calling me ‘Princess’ in Keith’s hearing yesterday?”

“Hmm.” Coran’s eyes shifted as he searched his memory. “Not that I can recall, Captain,” he admitted, shaking his head. He stared down at his hands, planted on his unfeeling thighs. “Perhaps the nerve disruptor damaged my brain as well.”

“Of course not,” Allura said, horrified by the assumption. She rested a firm hand on his shoulder, offering him a comforting smile, and stood. She returned to the riverbank and filled her canteen anew.

“Are you ready to go?” Keith asked her. He was wiping his knife with a damp cloth when she approached him.

She examined it from the corner of her eye, curious about the blade. Were those…violet accents? “I didn’t know the Galra military issued daggers,” she said lightly.

Keith snorted and sheathed his knife in his boot - _so that's where he hid it_ - causing her to suspect he didn’t want her looking too closely at it. “I think what you don’t know about the Galra military could fill a few dozen books, Captain.”

Allura was too surprised at how many words Keith, taciturn as he seemed, strung together into a single sentence to be angry at their implication, and she watched him retreat towards Coran, picking up the satchel and shouldering it. She rested a hand on the handle of the stunner at her belt, and hoped that she wouldn’t have to use it against him, enemy combatant that he was.

_Once was,_ Allura reminded herself. _He’s a deserter now._

_But how does_ that _make him any better than the average Galra?_

Such troubled thoughts still plagued her as they resumed their walk.

* * *

Keith’s limp grew more pronounced as kilometers and hours passed, enough that Allura grew worried enough to say an hour shy of sunset, “We can stop for the night, if you need to.”

“I’m fine,” Keith insisted, “I’m just not used to Arus’s gravity yet.”

Allura rolled her eyes and said, “If you fall, so will Coran, and then I’ll have to contend with _two_ injured men.” She glared sideways at him to emphasize her point.

He met her eyes, then sighed. “Fine,” he said. “We’ll stop in that tangle of trees.”

She followed his gaze to a copse of spindly trees growing close together. They were much smaller than those they’d passed through earlier in the day, but around noon they’d left the forests behind and emerged onto plains of tall grasses and scattered trees. Though she was disappointed by the lack of shelter they would provide, she knew their options were limited, especially when she caught sight of a bubbling creek flowing through from the direction of the still-distant mountains, marked by rockier ground scattered with spots of something like mold.

By the time they made it into the trees, the sun was well on its way to setting, the sky darkening and dashed through with streaks of red and pink. The trees’ shadows extended across the grasses, casting darkness in their vicinity.

Allura and Keith set Coran down against a narrow tree trunk. Keith walked away until he was out of sight, and Allura turned to look at Coran, who smiled at her regretfully.

“Princess,” he said.

“Please don’t call me that,” she said. She dug through the satchel and pulled out a packet of oatmeal. “Do you want this with water?”

“I’ll eat it dry,” Coran said. After Allura passed it to him, he said, “I apologize for my…impotence, Captain.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, Lieutenant,” Allura told him as she found two more packs of oatmeal. She set one aside for Keith, then unwrapped her own.

It tasted like sand, dry and crumbly, but it still filled her stomach – or at least gave it a good try.

Keith didn’t return until after she finished her food, and he was gone for long enough that she worried he’d collapsed, the combination of lack of sleep and his injury catching up to him. But before she could seek him out, he emerged from the trees, scowling, though when he caught sight of her he flattened his expression.

Allura held out the packet of oatmeal. “Hungry?”

He accepted it and unwrapped it without a word.

“Do you want it with water?” Allura asked, reaching for the satchel. “I might’ve packed a bowl.”

“This is fine,” Keith said. He tore into the oatmeal bar, demolishing it in five minutes.

Allura couldn’t help smiling when his stomach growled after he finished. “I’m sorry we don’t have many rations,” she said quietly.

Keith shrugged and leaned back against a tree, crossing his ankles. “How long do you think they’ll last us?”

She shifted through the satchel again and counted oatmeal, granola, and dehydrated vegetables. Frowning, she admitted, “If we’re careful, three more days.”

“That should be enough,” he said, though to Allura he sounded doubtful.

Making sure to keep her voice low so Coran wouldn’t overhear, she said, “We made too little progress today, didn’t we?”

“Much less than I’d hoped,” Keith agreed.

“Quiznak.” She glanced over her shoulder towards Coran, whose head was tipped backwards, eyes closed as if he slept.

Lucky him.

“I’ll keep first watch,” she offered. She found one of their few spare glow sticks, prepared to light it once all the sun’s light disappeared from the sky. “You should rest.” She wanted to take a look at his leg, to see if anything could be done, but knew her suggestion would be unwelcome.

Keith stared at her, then nodded, surprising her with his ready agreement. “All right.” He took off his uniform jacket and bunched it up, lying down with it as a pillow.

Allura snapped the glow stick to chase away the darkness, but it didn’t do much to dispel the uncomfortable quiet. Though, if she listened carefully, the creek splashed and burbled, water displaced by tiny creatures, and the slightest breeze rustled tree branches. Coran snored softly, and Keith’s breathing alone did more to dispel her discomfort at the silence than anything else on Arus ever had.

Just the sound of a living, sleeping body breathing.

She pushed that thought away and pulled stunner from her belt, laying it across her lap just for something to do with her hands. She checked its charge, and frowned in dismay:  it only carried enough for three shots.

She hoped they wouldn’t need them, since Keith’s knife was the only other weapon they had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Incidentally, Coran's counterpart in _Shards of Honor_ completely lost his capacity for 'higher thought' from a nerve disruptor to the head, rather than becoming paraplegic. But I went with this for Coran because (1) I love Coran and want him to be lucid, and (2) those character interactions/relationships.
> 
> Also I don't want to mince words wrt why it's been about half a month since I posted the first chapter, not when I've had this one finished for almost as long, so I'm just going to say I'm a piece of crap and also Chapter Three will require tweaking (i have a whole scene expansion in mind for it) before I post it and also uh I'm trying to do NaNoWriMo (with something original and, frankly, out of my comfort zone) plus I haven't touched this fic in a couple weeks since I got distracted by other things. Anyway, enough about me. How are you??
> 
> (i love and appreciate comments by the way)

**Author's Note:**

> Confession: usually when i write multichapter fic, I finish all of it before publishing the first chapter, but this time i am not doing that. But please note, I won't have a solid update schedule (though i hope to get at least one chapter out every week), and this is a more ambitious fic than usual for me
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think so far :)


End file.
